Dyeing fabric with cold water dyes
Paul & Suzie Beckwith
question...
I'm playing around with Procion cold-water dyes as part of my City &
Guilds, and wanted to dye with the jet black dye. So I followed my
tutors instructions, 200 ml of salt solution, 200ml of soda solution,
and 50ml of dye, stuck it all into a plastic bag with a FQ of white
100% cotton fabric, mushed it around, left it for 3 hours, drained the
liquid then left the fabric to sit in the bag overnight.
It looked absolutely jet-black, but as it was wet I refused to believe
that it was going to be the same colour when dry.
Last night I rinsed the excess dye out with cold water, then in hot
soapy water, then in cold again, as per tutors instructions and also
following Helen Deigham's "Dyeing in Plastic Bags" book... - then
threw the lot in the washing machine with a couple of pairs of
leggings...
After washing, I got the fabric out and ironed it dry - and the fabric
is gray... charcoal gray, not jet black at all - I had envisaged a
deep Amish black but certainly haven't got it. What I have got *is*
very pretty - but it isn't black!
Anyone know where I went wrong? or is it my expectations were too high
that the colour would be as rich and dark as I hoped?
Suzie B
"From the internet connection under the pier"
--
Southend, UK
**please note and use new email addy!!!
Kathy Applebaum
> Anyone know where I went wrong? or is it my expectations were too high
> that the colour would be as rich and dark as I hoped?
Black is the biggest pain in the a** to dye.
I've never acheived a deep, rich black without dyeing multiple times,
and using at least twice the recommended amount of dye. I've also had
better results using two different blacks when dyeing (I know you're
getting your supplies in the UK, but my US supplier has at least three
different procion blacks.)
Good luck on that black! :)
--
Kathy Applebaum (Woodland, CA)
longarm machine quilting
mailto:Ka...@KayneyQuilting.com
Jenn Ridley
>OK, I just *know* that someone out there will know the answer to this
>question...
>
>I'm playing around with Procion cold-water dyes as part of my City &
>Guilds, and wanted to dye with the jet black dye. So I followed my
>tutors instructions, 200 ml of salt solution, 200ml of soda solution,
>and 50ml of dye, stuck it all into a plastic bag with a FQ of white
>100% cotton fabric, mushed it around, left it for 3 hours, drained the
>liquid then left the fabric to sit in the bag overnight.
>
...
>
>After washing, I got the fabric out and ironed it dry - and the fabric
>is gray... charcoal gray, not jet black at all - I had envisaged a
>deep Amish black but certainly haven't got it. What I have got *is*
>very pretty - but it isn't black!
>
>Anyone know where I went wrong? or is it my expectations were too high
>that the colour would be as rich and dark as I hoped?
According to Dharma Trading (www.dharmatrading.com), in order to get
*black* with Procion Jet Black, you need to use 4times as much dye.
You should also use more salt.
(http://www.dharmatrading.com/cgi-bin/faq.cgi?mode=view&id=44&query=procion
i is a direct link to the page).
I've gotten decent blacks with Procion Jet Black on cotton, but I used
a *lot* of dye, half again as much salt, and warmer water in the
dyebath.
Black is a very hard color to get with home dyeing (or even small
commercial batches).
hth, nayy
jenn
--
Jenn Ridley
jri...@chartermi.net
John Gallagher
mine in bag for 24 hrs and had quite a good result, maybe that is the key!!
Who knows!! Estelle (Devonshire Dumpling)
"Paul & Suzie Beckwith" <pauln...@blueyondernospam.co.uk> wrote in message
news:3dadcd8e...@news.blueyonder.co.uk...
Brigitte Haydel
gives a deeper color.
Brigitte
"Paul & Suzie Beckwith" <pauln...@blueyondernospam.co.uk> wrote in message
news:3dadcd8e...@news.blueyonder.co.uk...
: OK, I just *know* that someone out there will know the answer to this
Susan Ford
the dye at quadruple strength if you want blackest black.
Susan
"Paul & Suzie Beckwith" <pauln...@blueyondernospam.co.uk> wrote in message
news:3dadcd8e...@news.blueyonder.co.uk...
NightMist
(Paul & Suzie Beckwith) wrote:
>
>After washing, I got the fabric out and ironed it dry - and the fabric
>is gray... charcoal gray, not jet black at all - I had envisaged a
>deep Amish black but certainly haven't got it. What I have got *is*
>very pretty - but it isn't black!
>
>Anyone know where I went wrong? or is it my expectations were too high
>that the colour would be as rich and dark as I hoped?
>
Black is a right PITA to dye.
Jet Black IME is the best procion color to use for getting a true
black, but even then you sometimes have to overdye.
You have to be very careful to use enough dye (roughly 4x as much as
other colors) and salt (2x as much as other colors) with black, and
stir a LOT when tub dyeing. I have never done the baggie thing.
I dye a lot of black because I wear a lot of black. I really miss
DekaL black, even though you had to use the fixitive for it.
NightMist
dyeing silk/rayon velvet black has become much more of an adventure
--
everybody is somebodys chew toy
rowena___.
>I'm playing around with Procion cold-water dyes as part of my City &
>Guilds, and wanted to dye with the jet black dye. So I followed my
>tutors instructions, 200 ml of salt solution, 200ml of soda solution,
>and 50ml of dye, stuck it all into a plastic bag with a FQ of white
>100% cotton fabric, mushed it around, left it for 3 hours, drained the
>liquid then left the fabric to sit in the bag overnight.[SNIP]
>After washing, I got the fabric out and ironed it dry - and the fabric
>is gray... charcoal gray, not jet black at all - I had envisaged a
>deep Amish black but certainly haven't got it. What I have got *is*
>very pretty - but it isn't black!
i have several suggestions:
"cold-water" means anything below boiling. try using water that is
about 110 degrees F (43 degrees C).
try using unbleached fabric--white fabric often has optical whiteners
that resist dye.
let the fabric sit longer--if you are using a dye that has turquoise
in it, it needs at least 24 hours. (what is the MX number?) keeping
the solution at temp for this long is sometimes a challenge--try
putting a heating pad over the bath, and wrap things up cozy in some
towels or newspapers.
don't drain the solution, you won't get level results.
try using two different blacks in the same dye bath.
good luck, babalu!
rowena___. in music city USA
"when was the last time you did something for the first time?"
Paul & Suzie Beckwith
another go when I get the chance, as well as checking out Dharma
Trading!
And why do I want to dye fabric black when I can buy it?
...just *because*!!!!!